Today is the seventh day of Black History Month. As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list.
So far I’ve talked about:
- Rick James, who was born 76 years ago on February 1
- OutKast‘s Big Boi, who celebrated his 49th birthday on February 1
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- John Lee Hooker
- Patti LaBelle
- The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards, who was born 81 years ago on February 4
- Tina Turner
- Aretha Franklin
- Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 55th birthday on February 5
- Bob Marley, who was born 79 years ago on February 6
- The Supremes
James Dewit Yancey, best known to the entire world as J. Dilla, one of the most influential and important hip-hop producers and beatmakers was born 50 years ago today. Much like Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix and lengthy list of pioneering Black artists, Dilla through his tragically short career transformed how we listen to music — and how it’s made. And his influence goes far beyond hip-hop: Back in 2020, just before the entire world shut down, I covered that year’s NYC Winter Jazz Fest and almost every young, contemporary jazz musician was essentially a Dilla acolyte.
We lost Yancey 18 years ago, but his work continues to be vital, soulful and absolutely transcendent.
Happy birthday, Dilla! Happy birthday, wherever you are!
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